Montreux is a reference in the world of music
mainly because of the worldwide renowned Montreux Jazz Festival.

The musical aspect of this city’s history is very important, it’s calm, the lake and the beautiful landscapes inspired all the artists who lived or recorded in Montreux.

Amongst them, British rock band QUEEN is taking a particular place.

The four members of the group owned the famous Mountain Studios. Therefore, they came very often to Montreux where they could record, walk around and enjoy some rest without being bothered by fans. Their relationship with the small city on the shores of Lake Geneva was both professional and private. Freddie Mercury in particular, at the end of his life, got close to Montreux. A Winter's Tale is the last song Freddie Mercury composed entirely. He did the vocals and keyboards for it and completed the last verse a couple of weeks before he died. It was written during the sessions for the album Innuendo, inspired as Mercury was staring out the windows of his apartment, at Lake Geneva. The song has a psychedelic, dreamy feel, and describes what Mercury saw outside the windows: the lake, the mountains, swans, birds and beautiful surroundings – “what a truly magnificent view”.

Queen started in the early 1970s with the albums Queen and Queen II, but it was with the release of Sheer Heart Attack in 1974 and A Night at The Opera the following year that the band gained international success.

All of the band's studio albums reached number one on numerous charts around the world.

Since 1973, they have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums, and numerous compilation albums.

The band have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide, including more than 32.5 million in the USA alone, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists.